Nha Trang Island Tour

Nha Trang, September 10th 2010

We took a 1 Day Island Tour which we purchased from The Sinh Tourist for less than 8 USD per pax (incl service charge). I had a good time and am satisfied with the services of this tour.

Moreover, this tour reminds me of 2 important things. First, this is the time where I met my first Vietnamese friend, Nguyen Phuong. All these times I have been in contact with many Vietnamese people, but they were all people from travel agencies or sort of, which I can't really call "a friend".

The other thing to not forget was... hmmm, another something good, of course. Let me show you around first.

Nha Trang is a city by the seashore. All the way through the main road you can witness the sea. I shot this with my cellphone from inside our taxi from hotel to The Sinh Tourist's office.

I fell in love at once with this city for the street, the coconut trees, and for the seashore. On January 1st next year, I plan to take a bike ride touring this city. It's so tempting for me.

From The Sinh Tourist's office we were taken to this port. It looks quiet in this picture, but it was actually busy that time. Busy with tourists obviously.

Back over there is Vinpearl Land which we didn't visit this time. You can get there by boat or by cable car. According to Vinpearl's website,

"With a length of 3320m, this is the longest Cable-car system in Vietnam that has 9 pillars similar to the Eiffel and lighted by laser at night. It is 40m higher than the sea on average and the highest point is 60m. The Cable-car system is not only a regularly used means of transport but also considered to be a wonder of Nha Trang tourism industry. From an ideal height, sitting in the cabinet, visitors can enjoy the panorama of pretty Nha Trang city embraced by meandering beaches and the paradise-like beauty of Nha Trang bay, one of the world’s most beautiful and famous bays."

Blue Nha Trang by Nokia N86 8MP

 That hill (mountain?) back there is Vinpearl Land again. Vinpearl Land, wait for me till end of this year... yayyy!

We visited a kind of Sea World. I regret that the water seemed not so clear. The aquarium glass was not clean and had scratches.

Nevertheless, the fishes were very active that I had to use a continuous shutter to capture them. It was not easy for me. It might be for you, though.

In real, this fish had bright beautiful colors. The dirty aquarium glass is to be blamed...

This one was an easier shot, because Mr. Turtle didn't move a lot. Oh ya, this island is also known as Turtle Island.

While the other tourists on the boat went down snorkeling, we hired 2 small boats and enjoyed a short ride floating on the sea.

Small round boats like this are actually common boats used by Vietnamese fishermen. But these ones seemed to be designed specially for tourists. It had a soft brim to sit on and also some life jackets. Fishermen don't wear life jackets.

We were brought to another island.

Here it is. The beach wasn't a place suitable to walk on bare feet, but still interesting. The water was clear.

Back to our main tourist boat we had lunch. This dinning table was actually the benches which were designed uniquely. The back of the benches could be pushed back and thus all of the benches formed a wide board. Then the crew covered it with a thick plastic like seen in this picture. There, the dinner table is done.

A little close up to our food. Yummy!

After lunch we had what our tour guide referred to "happy hour". Accompanied with a simple band at the back, he sang some songs. After that he asked tourists from each country to sing a song.

 

 I like the way our tour guide appeared enthusiastic and supportive towards all his guests, from any country, who came forward to sing. I think that also added respect and interest in each of us towards everyone on the boat. It made us find everyone who sang in front interesting. Good point of a tour guide.

When it came to Indonesia's turn, our tour guide pulled my hand. Uhhh. That's my first thing to worry about. Being asked to sing! I knew that already, because I had read someone's blog about an island tour to Nha Trang. At first I thought I'd be safe for I had 7 other friends. But it turned out that none of us stood up... until at last... Deny and Alfons came forward. Thank you, guys, for saving me, for saving us, for saving... Indonesia :))

My second worry: According to the blog I read, the boat crew couldn't play any of Indonesian songs. But much to my relief, Alfons said,

"Can I play the guitar?"

Hahhh. Thank you sooo much, Alfons!!

 

 Us and our new Vietnamese friend, Phuong, under her national flag.

 

This is the last island we stopped by. I followed this stair up, up, and up, only to fine a few empty but locked bedrooms. I knew it were bedrooms, because the window was wide opened.

Speaking of island, it reminds me again about our tour guide. From time to time he pronounced "island" as "Iceland". Hmmm... is this kind of a prophecy? Will I be someday going to Iceland? Would love to very much...

Unlike the previous island, here the beach is covered is softer sand instead of small rocks.

When we returned to our boat, again our dining table was filled with various fruits.

 

It was then when I got a call from a staff from Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC). He informed that Deny's missing tripod was found. He wanted to send the tripod to Hanoi, but since it would take 2 days and we would probably be out of Hanoi by that time, Deny required to have his tripod sent back to Soekarno Hatta Airport, Jakarta. Dina affirmed that Deny got his tripod when they arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport. This the other thing that I mentioned previously that mustn't be forgotten during this tour. 

 

Ika commented, "Then Air Asia's service must not be bad."